Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure for protecting members which are present around a main landing gear of an aircraft when the main landing gear is retracted from heat propagating from the wheel, the brake, etc. of the main landing gear.
Description of the Related Art
The wheel, the brake, etc. of the main landing gear of an aircraft generate heat while in use. Particularly, the brake generates a large amount of frictional heat when braking the wheel of the airframe which is running at a high speed after landing.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2014-169070 proposes to install a device which forcibly cools a brake on a door covering the wheels of a retracted main landing gear.
The brake cooling device of the above disclosure includes an air handling assembly which suctions external air through an opening which penetrates the door covering the wheels, and an air delivery assembly which guides the external air to one surface side of a brake stack. This device causes a flow of air across the brake stack on the basis of a differential pressure occurring between the one surface side and the other surface side of the brake stack. Air having absorbed heat from the brake stack enters a cavity inside the air handling assembly, and is discharged into external air through an outlet port formed at the rear end of the air handling assembly.
Around the main landing gear retracted inside a main landing gear bay (main landing gear compartment) housing the main landing gear, there are members requiring protection from heat propagating from the main landing gear. One example is a structural member which separates the main landing gear bay and a pressurized section from each other. To prevent the structural member from exceeding its allowable temperature due to heat propagating from the main landing gear, one can conceive of increasing the distance between a heat generating part of the main landing gear and the structural member, or providing the structural member with a heat insulation material.
However, an extra space of the main landing gear bay required for the increased distance or the thickness of the heat insulation material adds to the size of the airframe. The weight and air resistance of the airframe increase accordingly.
The same is true for the brake cooling device of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2014-169070: the space required for installing the device in the main landing gear bay adds to the size of the airframe. In addition, the brake cooling device including the plurality of assemblies is heavy in weight on its own.
Therefore, under constraints on the space of the main landing gear bay into which the main landing gear is retracted and on the weight of the airframe, the present invention aims to provide a structure which can protect the members around the main landing gear from the heat generating part of the main landing gear.